Health Desk

Iran has become self-sufficient in producing radioactive iodine (radioiodine) which is a main therapy for thyroid cancer, said the secretary of the 12th International Conference of Endocrine Disorders.

Talking to the reporters on the sideline of the congress, Dr. Shahram Alamdari said although manufacturing of radioactive iodine is a difficult process but thanks to the efforts made by the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, the production of medicine continues in Iran despite sanctions, IRNA reported.

He said manufacturing the medicine is among the peaceful uses of atomic energy.

“Use of radioactive iodine is among the main methods for treating patients suffering from thyroid cancer”, Alamdari said.

Ordinary iodine is one of the basic nutrients our bodies need, and we get it through food. The thyroid, a gland in the neck, uses it to make a hormone that guides some of the body’s essential functions, such as growth and physical development.

Doctors use a different form of it: Radioactive iodine. A substance that’s radioactive gives off a form of energy so intense that it’s capable of harming the body. But doctors have harnessed that power. When someone gets a small dose of radioactive iodine, scanners can pick it up, and it can help reveal certain illnesses. Larger doses can attack thyroid cancer, prostate cancer, and other diseases.

Radioactive iodine can kill the cells that make up the thyroid gland and thyroid cancer. If thyroid cancer has spread to other parts of the body, radioactive iodine can attack the disease there, too.

Meanwhile according to Mehr News Agency, Alamdari, who is a faculty member of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences said new medicines have been produced to control Type 2 Diabetes, some of them are manufactured in Iran.

“European companies cooperate with Iran in this respect”, he said.

He added that new medicine not only control blood glucose level, but also cause weight loss and prevent help prevent heart diseases.

“We have no problem in providing the medicines used for treating diabetic patients”, he stressed, adding the formulas of medicines required by patients suffering from diabetes and thyroid diseases are also available in the country.